Sunday, November 13, 2016

Atlas Shrugged

the situation where the most important productive people in the world refuse to work ( go on strike ).

the nature of altruism, its consequences and the enormity of the moral corruption it perpetrates

social novel

relation

the world is moved by creators

how second-handers live on the creators

how desperately the world needs prime movers, how viciously the world treats prime movers

what happens to the world without prime movers

the world's story -- world's (body) relation to its prime movers (heart)

what happens when prime movers don't do

why the prime moves allow the second-handers to live on them

why creators had not gone on strike througout history

what errors do the best creators make that keep them in thrall to the worst (Dagny Taggart, railroad heiress declaring war on the strikers, she refuses to join the strike), Dagny Taggart's errors (the kind of errors individualist and creator often make)

over-optimism--she thinks men are better than they actually are, she doesn't really understand men and is too generous about it

over-confidence--she thinks she can do more than an individual actually can; she thinks she can run a railroad (or the world) single-handed; she can make people do what she want or needs,what is right, by the sheer force of her own talent; she will show then how; she can teach them and persuade them; she is so able that they will catch it from her --- a mistaken faith in other people's rationality, mistakenly believe that others are better than they really are (or will become better, or she will teach them to become better, or actully, she so desperately wants then to be better), thus to be tied to the world by that (wrong) hope

don't attempt to be the spark of initiative for the collective

don't attempt to be the bearer of responsibility for a whole collective

Reason is not automatic; those people who deny it can't be conquered by it; don't count on those people; leave them alone

errors individualist and creator often make--- to be optimistic, since the creator believes in a benevolent universe and functions on that premise, but it is an error to extend that optimism to other specific men --- this is not necessary, because

the creator's life and the nature of the universe don't require, his life doesn't depend on others

man is a being with free will, thus, each man is potentially good or evil, and it's up to him and only to him (through his own reasoning mind), to decide which he wants to be, this decision will affect only him; it is not (can't not, should not be) the primary concern of any other human being

don't worship mankind (as a collective)

man, at his highest potential, is realized and fulfilled within each creator himself; whether the creator is alone, of finds only a handful of others like him, or is among the majority of mankind, if of no importance or consequences whatever, numbers have nothing to do with it

it should not matter to a creator whether anyone or a million or all the men around him fall short of the ideal of man--- let him live up to that ideal himself, this is all the optimism about man that he needs

it is proper for a creator to have an unlimited confidence in himself and his ability, to feel certain that he can get anything he wishes out of life, that he can accomplish anything he decides to accomplish, and that it is up to him to do it (he feels it because he is a man of reason)

But the creator must clearly in mind:

don't place his wish primarily within others

don't attempt or desire anything that is of a collective nature, anything that concerns others primarily or requires primarily the exercise of the will of others

if the creator attempt the above, he is out of a creator's province and in that of the collectivist and second-hander

must never feel confident that he can do anything whatever to, by or through others --- he can't, should not even wish to try it, the mere attempt is improper

must not think that he can somehow transfer his energy and intelligence to others and make them fit for his purposes in that way

the creator must face other men as they are, recognizing them as essentially independent entities, by nature, and beyond his primary influence

the creator must deal with others only on his own, independent terms, deal with such as he judges can fit his purpose or live up to his standards (by themselves and of their own will, independently of him), and expect nothing from others

Travel and tell no one, live a true love story and tell no one, live happily and tell no one, people ruin beautiful things. ― Kahlil Gibran

tranquil

not this moment

search

oxygen

making life easier

None of her business what people say of her and think of her. She is what/who is. She does what she does. She expects nothing. She accepts everything. She does not mind if she talks or not. If you need to listen, then she might talk. If you do not, then that is the end of it. It does not make any difference to her, personally.

Gestalt prayer by Fritz Perls

I do my thing and you do your thing.I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,And you are not in this world to live up to mine.You are you, and I am I,and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful.If not, it can't be helped.

I no longer have patience by Meryl Streep

I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I’ve become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not love me and to smile at those who do not want to smile at me. I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie or want to manipulate. I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise. I do not tolerate selective erudition nor academic arrogance. I do not adjust either to popular gossiping. I hate conflict and comparisons. I believe in a world of opposites and that’s why I avoid people with rigid and inflexible personalities. In friendship I dislike the lack of loyalty and betrayal. I do not get along with those who do not know how to give a compliment or a word of encouragement. Exaggerations bore me and I have difficulty accepting those who do not like animals. And on top of everything I have no patience for anyone who does not deserve my patience.

self esteem by Virginia Satir

I am Me. In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. Everything that comes out of me is authentically mine, because I alone chose it -- I own everything about me: my body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions, whether they be to others or myself. I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears. I own my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes. Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. By so doing, I can love me and be friendly with all my parts. I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know -- but as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles and ways to find out more about me. However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically me. If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought, and felt turn out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded. I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me. I own me, and therefore, I can engineer me. I am me, and I am Okay.

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.